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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29227017">Between Two Hearts</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeliriumsDelight7/pseuds/DeliriumsDelight7'>DeliriumsDelight7</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Once Upon a Time (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Season 2A canon divergence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 08:27:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,602</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29227017</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeliriumsDelight7/pseuds/DeliriumsDelight7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What if the events of "The Miller's Daughter" had gone differently, and Cora had lived?  Will she try to turn over a new leaf now that she has her heart back, or is she the same ruthless person who ripped it out all those years ago?  How will her survival affect the people of Storybrooke and their relationships with one another?  </p>
<p>This work will be predominantly Rumbelle, but will also touch on the relationships of other characters.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold, Evil Queen | Regina Mills &amp; Queen of Hearts | Cora, Queen of Hearts | Cora/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Between Two Hearts</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The underground catacombs where Regina kept her morbid collection of hearts was dark and damp, the meager light filtering in from above doing nothing to illuminate the eerie space.  A shiver that had nothing to do with the cold skittered up Snow White’s spine.  This was a horrible place - a place of magic, of evil and corruption and control.  The sooner she could leave this place and return to the light and warmth of the surface, the better.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>All was silent in the tomb except for her own trembling breathing.  With slow, cautious steps, she slowly made her way further into the cavernous gloom.  She couldn’t afford to tarry; David and Emma didn’t know it, but they were counting on her to neutralize… to kill… Cora.  Before she could hurt anybody else.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As she descended further into darkness, a new sound drifted to her ears: a slow, rhythmic pulse.  It was the sound of a beating heart.  Her own heart in her throat, she approached an old lacquer cabinet from the Enchanted Forest.  Snow recognized it as one from her father’s palace.  Opening the door revealed a dull, reddish glow that illuminated the room, and an old wooden box.  With trembling fingers, she pulled the box from the shelf upon which it rested.  The grainy surface was warm to the touch, far warmer than anything had any right to be in the chill and the damp.  Pushing away her misgivings, Snow opened the box, her face bathed in the crimson glow of the contents within.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cora’s heart.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It had to be hers.  Regina kept the hearts of her victims in a vault.  Why keep this one apart from the others?  It </span>
  <em>
    <span>had</span>
  </em>
  <span> to be Cora’s.  If it wasn’t… then this was a waste of her time, and her husband and daughter were as good as dead.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She fumbled with the magic candle Rumpelstiltskin had given her, staring at its twin black and white ends for several long moments.  The crimson gem at its center shone dully in the glow of Cora’s heart.  Could she really do this?  Take a life in order to save one that wasn’t even worth saving?  Rumpelstiltskin may not have killed as many people as Regina had, and he may not have cast the curse that stole their memories and brought them to Storybrooke, but he’d pulled all of the strings to get them to this point.  Was killing Cora really worth saving the Dark One himself?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Unbidden, Gold’s words in the pawn shop floated across her awareness.  </span>
  <em>
    <span>I know you can do this,</span>
  </em>
  <span> he’d said, his voice thin and reedy and sounding more like his former impish self than it had since before the curse had ripped them from their world and brought them all here.  </span>
  <em>
    <span>I know you want to do this.</span>
  </em>
  <span>  And he was right.  Gods help her, he was right.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This was it.  This was the moment she could finally have revenge on Cora for all the pain she’d experienced.  Losing her mother…  the years spent in exile… all of the friends and innocent people who had fallen victim to Regina’s misplaced rage… it was all Cora’s fault, and today she would pay the ultimate price.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her hands were steady as she struck the match, lighting both sides of the candle and holding it over the heart.  Her fingers were warmed by the flickering flames at either end.  The glowing organ in the box pulsed and heaved as though it knew of its imminent fate.  Twin trickles of wax poured from the candle onto the heart.  Gathering every bit of hate in her breast, she poured it into a whispered name.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Cora,” she breathed.  “Cora.”  After a few moments, she blew out both ends of the candle.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was done.  Finally, after all this time, her mother could rest, her death avenged.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As she snapped the lid of the box shut and hurried toward the catacomb entrance, her mind drifted to the last time she’d seen her mother.  The queen had been on her deathbed, listening compassionately as Snow confessed her failure, her weakness that prevented her from taking another life.  In that moment, the disappointment in her mother’s blue eyes had transformed into… into pride.  And love.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>That wasn’t weakness.  That was strength,</span>
  </em>
  <span> she’d said.  The strength to accept loss as a part of life, instead of inflicting that pain on someone else.  Her steps faltered.  Was it?  Was it truly strength to accept when life wronged you, instead of fighting back?  How could it be?  How could it be </span>
  <em>
    <span>right</span>
  </em>
  <span> to let life crush your dreams, instead of striking back?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It couldn’t be.  Snow had done the right thing </span>
  <em>
    <span>so many times</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and she had nothing to show for it.  The mercy she’d shown Regina had destroyed an entire world and left its citizens in torment for </span>
  <em>
    <span>decades</span>
  </em>
  <span>.  How could she let Regina hurt them without striking back?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But… wasn’t that exactly what Regina was doing?  Lashing out at the person who hurt her.  If Snow went down this path, she would be no better than the woman who had damned an entire world.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Closing her eyes, Snow pictured her mother’s final moments, the last, comforting words a mother had left for her daughter.  </span>
  <em>
    <span>As long as you hold the spirit of goodness in your heart, I shall never leave you.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Those words had been a comfort to Snow for so long.  Her mother wouldn’t want her to take revenge, she realized.  She’d want Snow to be a fair and just queen - one who didn’t abuse her power for petty vengeance.  No matter how good it felt.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It wasn’t too late.  The heart was cursed, but it hadn’t been returned to Cora’s chest.  Maybe… maybe there was a way to break the curse.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Snow knew little of the ways of magic; even if she’d had the interest, her stepmother would have never allowed her access to the magical tomes in her chambers.  She knew that it always came at a price.  She knew to contact the Blue Fairy when magical assistance was needed, and to seek the Dark One when she couldn’t - or wouldn’t - help.  She knew one or two basic uses for Black Fairy Dust.  And she knew the one thing that would break any curse.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She had to think quickly.  If she followed the original plan, and somehow managed to put Cora’s heart back in her chest where it belonged, she would be keeping David, Emma and Henry safe.  But that would be murder.  Doing the right thing would be a gamble with the highest of stakes.  She was betting on the trust of a woman who had no reason to trust her, and the love of a woman who could damn well be incapable of it.  If she bet it all on this course of action and lost, she and her family would be the ones to pay the price.  She needed to </span>
  <em>
    <span>think!</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You!”  Regina’s voice echoed through the tomb as the woman strode down the hallway toward her.  “You have no right to be here.”  Her eyes darted downward, to the box in Snow’s hands.  Snow sent a prayer of thanks to any gods that may or may not exist in this world that she’d had time to tuck the candle back into her pocket.  “And you have no right to </span>
  <em>
    <span>that!”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Snow took a deep, fortifying breath.  Time was up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was now or never.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>******</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Dark One was mere moments from death.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cora stared pensively at the dagger that now bore only the final letter of the name of a man she’d once loved.  Would love still, probably, if she were capable of it.  She could feel the tug of it, distantly, in her chest, a half-imagined ache that was easily brushed away and ignored.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It didn’t matter.  She had no time to spare if the Dark One’s power was to be hers.  All that stood in the way to her goal was the shimmering barrier of light that blocked her path.  No doubt the girl had cast it.  Light magic could resist dark magic to an extent, but this was undisciplined.  Untrained.  The girl may as well have erected a wall out of straw.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Even straw would be better.  That, at least, could be turned into something precious.  This was nothing, Cora thought as the barrier dissolved beneath her effortless assault.  Stepping into the back room of the cluttered little shop, she came to a pair of would-be defenders of the Dark One.  The girl, Snow White’s brat, had power, she knew.  But that power was unrefined.  She had no idea how to wield it effectively.  Judging by the protective stance of the boy in front of her, the two were somehow involved.  The scimitar in his hand led Cora to believe that he had no magic to speak of.  Was this the son Rumpelstiltskin had spent so long seeking?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If the barrier was nothing, then these two were less than nothing.  “Out of the way,” she barked.  With a wave of a hand and a plume of aubergine smoke, the two were transported far enough away to keep them from interfering.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Not that she needed to send them far.  Rumpelstiltskin had only moments to live, whether she plunged his dagger into his heart or not.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As she stepped resolutely toward her one-time love, she was struck by how very much this realm had diminished him.  He had always been small of stature, of course, but with his golden skin, flamboyant wardrobe and dramatic flair, he had seemed larger than life from the second he’d appeared to her in King Xavier’s tower.  He was handsome enough here with his dark hair and hawkish features, she supposed, and dressed finely by the standards of this strange new world she found herself in.  But this magicless realm had reduced him to a weak, limping wretch of a man, even before Hook’s poison had worked its way through his system.  The man who lay before her now was barely clinging to life, covered in a sheen of sweat, hands trembling with the sheer effort of lifting them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pathetic.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The vision told me about you,” he said, breathing labored as he struggled to project his voice above a whisper.  “Told me this day would come.  But it didn’t tell me everything… tell me what I really wanted to know.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The temptation to plunge the knife into Rumpelstiltskin’s chest was nearly overwhelming.  If she positioned the blade just right, the second wound would cross right through the one Hook had left.  X marks the spot.  The pirate would appreciate that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But the place where her heart had once been softened.  She could let him unburden himself, as one last kindness.  She was, after all, the Queen of Hearts.  Who better to grant audience to than the man who had once held hers?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She lowered herself to his bedside.  “And what’s that?” she asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His eyes remained lowered.  Whether because he couldn’t stand to meet hers, or he simply lacked the strength to raise his eyelids, she couldn’t tell.  “Did you ever love me?” he asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She stared at him for a long moment - at this small, unremarkable, sweating, dying man asking for the love of a woman who couldn’t give it to him.  There was no trace in this weakened shell of the powerful, bloodthirsty being she’d fallen in love with.  But if she squinted, she could see him in the outline of his profile.  “Why do you think I had to rip my own heart out?” she asked by way of answer.  Her gloved hand reached out to brush the fringe back from his brow.  It lacked the curls he’d had in his imp form, but she imagined it was just as soft as she remembered.  “You were my weakness,” she admitted, a confession reserved only for a dying man who could never exploit it.  “You’re the only man I ever truly loved.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Rumpelstiltskin’s breathing became more labored as he drew closer to his final moments.  The time for confessions was over.  Pushing herself off the bed, she raised the nearly blank dagger over her head, arm tensed and ready to plunge it through his heart.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With a sickening crunch, pain exploded through Cora’s back.  Spine arching in agony, she gave a ragged gasp.  She’d felt this sensation once before, when she’d removed her own heart decades ago.  She’d forgotten how very much it </span>
  <em>
    <span>hurt.</span>
  </em>
  <span>  Matters of the heart often did.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As the warmth of her heart settled back into her chest, pulsing with life, she… she could...</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She could </span>
  <em>
    <span>feel.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>******</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This was madness.  Pure idiocy.  She shouldn’t even be considering this.  But here she was, in Gold’s pawn shop, her mother’s heart clutched in her hand.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Regina had found Snow White in her tomb, clutching the wooden box that held Cora’s heart, she’d been mere moments from reducing the meddlesome child to cinders where she stood.  But the girl had hastily told her a tale so preposterous that it simply had to be true.  Snow White, after all, was a horrible liar.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“You mean to tell me that Rumpelstiltskin tricked you into cursing my mother’s heart?” she demanded.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>The younger woman shook her head.  “No,” she said.  “I did it willingly.  He gave me the means to do it, but the decision was mine.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“And why should I believe you?  How do I know this isn’t a trick?”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Snow raised her chin in a quiet show of defiance.  “Because I decided that I didn’t want to become you,” she replied.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Regina’s mouth twisted with the bitter taste of her hatred.  In twenty-eight years, she’d become accustomed to seeing Mary Margaret Blanchard cowering at the sight of her own shadow.  How loathsome, to see the woman Regina hated most restored to her former bravery.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“So you’re telling me that if I give my mother back her heart, she’ll finally be able to love me.”  She kept her voice carefully flat to keep Mary Margaret from seeing just how badly she’d yearned for her mother’s affection all these years.  Judging by the simpering smile that spread across the girl’s face, she’d guessed it anyway.  “But if I do that, Rumpelstiltskin’s wound will be transferred to her, and she’ll die.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Yes.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>She scoffed.  “What kind of idiot do you take me for?” she asked.  “Why would I risk my mother’s life on the chance that the curse can be broken?”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Because then you’ll know for sure if Cora was ever capable of loving you,” Snow replied.  “If this doesn’t work, then Cora will die, and you’ll know that nothing you did was ever going to please her.  But if it works… you’ll have your </span>
  </em>
  <span>mother.”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Regina’s stomach turned at the emphasis Snow White put on that word.  It was the same way she’d spoken when she’d betrayed Regina’s confidence all those years ago.  The naive girl’s limited imagination couldn’t conceive a mother who didn’t love her daughter.  But Regina didn’t need her imagination to picture a cold, unfeeling mother.  She had to look no further than her memories.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“You’ve seen the power of a mother’s love,” Snow continued, her sickeningly sincere eyes boring into Regina’s.  “It can cross realms, and break curses.  It can even bring someone back from the brink of death.  You know.  You’ve seen it.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>With a pang of heartache, Regina remembered that day, mere weeks ago, when Henry had nearly died in the hospital.  Watching Emma Swan kiss Henry’s brow, seeing the flash of brilliant light as True Love’s Kiss broke the curse and ruined her vengeance, had unleashed a myriad of emotions within her.  Fury that decades of revenge had been ruined with a single press of the lips.  Relief that Henry hadn’t paid the price for her… or rather, for Emma Swan’s actions.  Envy at the quiet certainty that her kiss wouldn’t have awoken her son.  Sad curiosity, wondering if Henry didn’t love him as much as he loved a woman he’d only known a few months… or if her heart was simply too broken to love him properly.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Enough.  Too much time spent in Snow White’s company was turning her maudlin.  With a sharp gesture, she teleported the box with her mother’s heart into her waiting hand.  </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“You’d better hope that this works,” she snarled, “or you and your little family will pay the price.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As she watched from the shadows, her mother raised the Dark One’s dagger, preparing to plunge it into Rumpelstiltskin’s chest.  Regina had to act, </span>
  <em>
    <span>now.</span>
  </em>
  <span>  If her mother became the new Dark One, she would become too powerful for Regina to face.  She’d never have another chance to return her mother’s heart.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With swift, silent steps, she rushed to her mother’s side and plunged the heart into her ribs without hesitation.  Cora’s back bowed, a gasp stuttering through her throat as the dagger clattered to the floor.  Her own heart in her throat, Regina waited with bated breath as her mother turned to her… and smiled.  In all the years trapped under Cora’s care, Regina’s mother had </span>
  <em>
    <span>never</span>
  </em>
  <span> smiled at her like that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mother!” she cried, her heart soaring with joy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Suddenly, Cora’s knees buckled, the smile slipping from her face.  Pulling back the lapel of her jacket, she revealed a wound: red, with pulsing yellow veins creeping toward her heart.  Regina caught her mother as she fell, gently lowering the both of them to the floor.  Distantly, she heard the sound of metal scraping against the carpet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cora’s eyes strayed over Regina’s shoulder to look at something behind her.  “This… would have been enough,” she murmured.  Her eyes met Regina’s, searching her face as if trying to memorize every detail of it.  “You… would have been enough.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was everything she’d ever wanted to hear growing up.  Giving a dry sob, Regina belatedly remembered the second part of the plan.  Focusing on her mother’s brief, radiant smile, she pushed away thoughts of revenge on Snow White if this didn’t work.  She held her mother’s face between her hands and laid a kiss on her brow, pouring decades of yearning for love and affection into that kiss.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>******</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Rumpelstiltskin was dying.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It wasn’t so bad, really.  The wound in his chest had stopped hurting, the burning of the poison working its way toward his heart all but numbed as his body shut down.  Dimly he knew that his clothes were soaked through with sweat, but he felt the cold down to his bones.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>What surprised him most was that he wasn’t afraid.  Fear had ruled him his entire life.  Fear of dying, fear of losing those he loved, fear of anyone bigger or stronger or more powerful than him.  Even with the untold powers and immortality of the Dark One at his fingertips, he was afraid.  Afraid of letting people too close, of letting them see the pathetic, cowardly spinner he was underneath the magic and the titters and the flamboyant persona he’d adopted.  Terrified that he might never be reunited with Bae.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was only now, when he was weak as a kitten, powerless and helpless and </span>
  <em>
    <span>useless</span>
  </em>
  <span>, that he was finally free from fear.  It wasn’t courage; he was simply too exhausted to be afraid.  Had he the strength, he would have laughed at the irony.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He had regrets, of course.  He would have liked more time with Bae.  It hardly seemed fair that he’d spent centuries plotting and planning for a reunion, only for it to be cut so short.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And he regretted leaving Belle alone.  She would be helpless without memories from either this world or their own.  People would take advantage of her ignorance.  He could only hope that her goodness would inspire someone to take her in and shelter her until she could regain her feet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And she would, he knew.  Belle was strong.  She and Bae both were.  He had been blessed to draw from that strength, once.  If only he hadn’t been too foolish to appreciate what he’d had.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Actually, death felt almost pleasant.  If he didn’t know better, he would say that he could feel life returning to his limbs, and…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wait.  He </span>
  <em>
    <span>could</span>
  </em>
  <span> feel his strength returning.  His eyes snapped open as alertness returned to his mind.  There, kneeling just beside the bed, were Regina and Cora, the latter gasping for air.  His hands, sure and steady with renewed vigor, snatched the bloody handkerchief from his chest.  Underneath, where before there had been a jagged wound surrounded by veins of poison, there was now only smooth, unbroken flesh.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She’d done it.  Snow White had murdered Cora, and in so doing, had saved his life.  And the  naive princess hadn’t even thought to make a deal with him, to demand something in return.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He slipped silently from the bed, bracing his cane under him while his free hand slowly picked up the dagger from where Cora had dropped it.  As he stood, raising himself to his not-so-considerable height, Cora’s eyes locked with his.  He took savage pleasure in seeing the vulnerability -  and dare he say </span>
  <em>
    <span>love </span>
  </em>
  <span>- in their depths.  He’d won.  She lay dying on the ground while he stood over her, victorious.  She’d ripped his heart out right along with her own all those years ago, but here he was.  The dagger was back in his possession, his family was reunited, his life was restored, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>he’d won.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Still her soft brown eyes held his, warmer than they’d been since the day she’d promised to give him his child.  “This… would have been enough,” she said softly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His breath caught in his throat.  She didn’t mean that.  She couldn’t mean that.  She’d thrown him aside decades ago, rejecting the love she’d demanded of him in order to pursue power.  How dare she tell him now, as she lay dying in her daughter’s arms - the daughter that should have been </span>
  <em>
    <span>his,</span>
  </em>
  <span> damn it - that a life with him would have been </span>
  <em>
    <span>enough?</span>
  </em>
  <span>  It wasn’t.  It never was.  Not for his father.  Not for his wife, or his lover, or even his son.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was a final blow, that was all.  One last way of lashing out at the man who bested her.  He schooled his face to careful blankness, refusing to let her see the effect her words had on him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He braced himself for recriminations.  Any moment now, Regina would face him in her ire, accusing him of killing the mother who had never loved her until she was already dying.  And he would remorselessly turn Regina’s rage on Snow White.  Had anyone else been the one to cast the curse over Cora’s heart, Regina would still give Rumpel his share of the blame.  Fortunately for him, Snow White acted as a lightning rod of sorts for the Evil Queen’s fury.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>To his surprise, she did no such thing.  Instead, Regina leaned down and pressed a careful kiss to her mother’s brow.  A wave of iridescent white light radiated from the two women, stirring Rumpelstiltskin’s hair.  There was a brief sting in his chest as the candle’s curse was lifted and the poisoned wound attempted to reassert itself in his flesh.  But his power as the Dark One had returned the moment the wound was transferred to Cora.  Steeped in Storybrooke’s magic, without the bloody pirate’s poison coursing through his veins, Rumpelstiltskin healed the wound with barely a thought.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>True Love’s Kiss, he thought numbly.  He wouldn’t have thought either woman capable of such pure emotion if he hadn’t seen it for himself.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This presented a new problem.  Kissing her mother to dispel a curse wasn’t Regina’s idea.  For one thing, she had no way of knowing the heart was cursed.  And for another, True Love wasn’t the queen’s preferred solution to life’s problems.  No, this savored strongly of a certain pure-hearted princess.  No doubt Snow White had told Regina </span>
  <em>
    <span>exactly</span>
  </em>
  <span> whose idea it was to exchange Cora’s life for his.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His power was rapidly returning to him with every passing moment, but the poison had leached much of his strength from him.  Were he still in the Enchanted Forest, he would have returned instantly to his full power.  The magic here was diminished, less effective for having been summoned to a place it didn’t belong.  At his current strength, he could defeat either Regina or Cora with some difficulty.  But both?  The odds were not in his favor.  He made a point of avoiding confrontations when the odds were stacked against him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He had to take control of the situation.  Quickly, before the two women on the floor of his shop stopped grinning through their tears long enough to remember that they’d come here to kill him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He cleared his throat.  Both women tore their eyes away from each other to stare at him warily.  Regina bristled with barely-leashed hostility, while Cora looked him up and down measuringly, assessingly.  “Well, this reunion is very touching,” he said, “but I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to get the hell out of my shop.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Regina’s lips curled in a disdainful scowl.  “And what makes you think we’ll be going anywhere?” she snarled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He gestured with the hand holding his dagger.  Both women’s eyes were drawn to the movement.  He would need to find a better hiding place for it soon.  With Regina’s stubborn will and Cora’s meticulous mind, there were few places in Storybrooke he would deem safe.  “Your little murder attempt failed,” he said.  “Assaulting the Dark One’s keep is all well and good when he’s powerless and dying.  Do you really want to go toe to toe with me when I’m at my full strength?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re bluffing,” Regina said, her eyes darting uncertainly down to his dagger.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He gave them his most predatory, dead-eyed smile.  “Am I?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The two women rose to their feet.  Rumpelstiltskin held himself at readiness, exuding an aura of lazy confidence he didn’t feel.  If it came down to a fight between himself and his two former proteges, he would lose.  End of story.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His mind raced.  Going toe to toe with both Regina and Cora was not an option.  Without the dagger, they couldn’t hope to kill him.  But his magic wasn’t fully restored.  In his weakened state, they didn’t need to kill him; they simply had to outlast him.  Once he ran out of magical power, they could simply pluck the dagger from his fingers, and they’d be free to kill or enslave him as they saw fit.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He could simply run away, the coward at his heart was quick to remind him.  He could simply vanish in a puff of smoke, and resume this conflict at a place and time of his choosing.  And doing so would remove any doubt that he wasn’t at his full strength.  No, he couldn’t expose any potential weakness to these two.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was no talking his way out of this, he knew.  This entire plan had relied on Snow White killing Cora, giving into the darkness that lay dormant in her heart.  Cora would be out of the picture permanently, and Regina’s wrath would be conveniently rerouted.  He hadn’t counted on the princess’s change of heart ruining his plans.  Between Cora’s single-minded determination and Regina stewing in an anger that couldn’t be diverted to her stepdaughter, he didn’t think there was a word in his repertoire that would dissuade them from their course.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Unexpectedly, Cora laid a hand on Regina’s arm.  “Wait,” she said.  The shuttered coldness he’d come to expect from her eyes had been replaced by a myriad of emotions, all flickering so quickly that he couldn’t get a good read on a single one of them.  Her eyes darted between his face and the dagger clenched in his fist.  “We’re done here.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But Mother--”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cora interrupted her daughter in a deadly quiet voice.  “I said we’re done.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The two women stared at each other for several long moments in a silent battle of wills.  Eventually Regina looked away.  Of course she did; what she’d inherited of her mother’s drive had been diluted by her father’s quiet forbearance.  With a dark scowl, she disappeared in a plume of aubergine smoke.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cora lingered, a small smile playing across her lips as her eyes roamed over him in what he could only describe as hunger.  “Until later, darling,” she said, before vanishing after her daughter.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Rumpelstiltskin clenched his jaw, his lips pressed in a thin line.  Wonderful.  There were now two women with magic in Storybrooke who could be poised to attack at any time.  Regina had reason to lash out at him, and Cora…  Cora was now an unknown quantity.  He knew how to deal with her when she was all ruthlessness and cool calculation.  With her heart back - with her emotions back - she was unpredictable.  Erratic.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With a quiet sigh, he limped to the front of his store and quietly began taking inventory of the magical artifacts in his possession.  Nothing displayed in the front of the store was particularly powerful; however, if they had taken anything even remotely magical, he needed to know.  Forewarned was forearmed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This was a very serious problem.  In a head-on confrontation, he could most likely take on both Regina and Cora once he’d regained the rest of his strength.  When it came to raw power, very little could compete with the power of the Dark One.  He also had the advantage of centuries of experience and knowledge at his back.  But he’d taught both Regina and Cora well; both of them knew to use subtlety, trickery, and manipulation when brute force wouldn’t do the trick.  And while Regina was a bull in a china shop when it came to delicacy and subtlety, Cora had a much lighter hand.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A brief perusal of his shop told him that nothing had been taken, but he would still do a more in-depth search later, just in case.  Just as he was preparing to lock up for the day to get some much-needed rest, the door swung open with a bang, the bell atop it jangling in protest at the rough treatment.  In burst Snow White, bristling with energy and looking around frantically, as though expecting to see her stepmother hiding behind the jewelry case like a common sneak-thief.  Charming was right on her heels, as always.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good of you to join the party, Your Highness,” he said with his trademark smirk.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where are Regina and Cora?” she demanded without preamble.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m afraid our guests of honor have already departed,” he replied.  “You really must work on your timing.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She looked him up and down uncertainly.  “Well, it looks like you’re not dying anymore.”  Rumpelstiltskin wondered if it was possible for a person to inherit her spouse’s gift for stating the painfully obvious.  “So Cora’s still alive?  Did it work?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You mean True Love’s Kiss?  Shockingly enough, yes, it did.  It seems our illustrious queen and her mother have hidden depths.”  He took a few slow, menacing steps toward the pair.  “That was quite a detour you took from our agreed-upon path, dearie.  There’s no telling how many ways it could have gone wrong.  How’d you know it would work?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His unspoken threat was received; Charming placed himself protectively at Snow White’s side, while his wife raised her chin in defiance.  “I didn’t,” she said.  “Actually, I was hoping it wouldn’t.  This town and everyone in it would be better off with you or Cora gone.  But at least this way, my hands were clean.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Bloodthirsty as ever, but never willing to dirty your own hands, is that it?” he asked rhetorically.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Charming bristled.  “Listen, Gold--”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Rumpelstiltskin rounded on the two of them.  “No, you listen,” he snapped.  “Your wife’s mercy has just unleashed a dangerous force on Storybrooke.  Cora is powerful and conniving.  She has ties to no one and nothing in this town, save Regina.  Do you think she’ll hesitate to attack anyone in this town if she even </span>
  <em>
    <span>suspects</span>
  </em>
  <span> it could serve her own interests?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But she’s changed,” the naive princess insisted.  “Now she has her heart.  Surely things will be different now that she has the ability to love her daughter.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Rumpelstiltskin scoffed.  “I wouldn’t count on it, dearie,” he said.  “Perhaps she has her heart back, but she’s still the same cold-blooded woman she always was.  She’s the same woman who decided to tear her own heart out to serve her ends.”  Gold snapped his mouth shut.  It was approaching dangerous territory, to admit that he’d known Cora before she’d removed her heart.  It would only take a few short logical leaps to deduce the reason she’d emotionally crippled herself, and that was a story he’d rather wasn’t told.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But unsurprisingly, the Charmings didn’t even notice.  “People can change,” she said.  “People can always change.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can? Certainly,” he agreed.  “But </span>
  <em>
    <span>will?</span>
  </em>
  <span>  Very rarely, especially when they have no incentive to change.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I guess we’ll see,” she said stubbornly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh yes, you’ve made sure of that,” he said.  “You’d best hope it’s not your little family who pays the price.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Charming spoke up.  “C’mon, Snow.  This is getting us nowhere.”  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The pair turned to leave.</span>
  <span>“One more thing,” Rumpelstiltskin called.  They both paused at the door.  “Should </span>
  <em>
    <span>my</span>
  </em>
  <span> family be the ones to pay the price, the suffering I’ll rain down on the two of you will make the past twenty-eight years of suffering seem a mere pittance in comparison.”  He bared his teeth in some approximation of a smile.  “Enjoy your victory while it lasts.  Because I sincerely doubt this is over.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm not 100% sure where this story is going; I need to do a close rewatch of seasons 1 and 2 of OUaT to get some ideas.  I'm also open to suggestions if there's anything you'd like to see.  You can find me on Tumblr at deliriumsdelight7.tumblr.com and hit me with an Ask any time.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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